After the first successful attempt at grill-smoking ribs on the Sputnik, I decided to press my luck with a full slab of bacon, and I couldn't be more happy with the results. A vanilla and brown sugar cure came together after I saw a vanilla-braised pork recipe. A whole vanilla bean was split and scraped, and the whole went into the bag with the pork belly for a four day cure. The longan wood was added purely by luck, and I really should apologize to the poor kid at the grocer in China Town who looked a little confused when I asked for a large handful of the branches he was diligently cutting fruit from.

The two hour smoke went well, and at the end, we were rewarded with a clear smoke ring and a slab that coasted nicely into the 150F range. The resulting bacon was really quite good, though the vanilla wasn't overwhelmingly present in our tasting. Rumor has it we should ramp it up further.

In any case, here are a few things currently residing in the fridge:

1/4 lb Vanilla and brown sugar bacon that was smoked this morning over longan wood (and then promptly served and eaten by guests)

Cracklins from the same (Gods help me, they're tasty)

A large jar of sweet & hot farm share carrot refrigerator pickles

Four moulard duck legs and about 2 lbs of duck fat in preparation for making duck confit